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John Smith (Eden Rising)
Tyrant Kings - NEEDTOBREATHE | Status=Deceased | Age=40's | Death=Suicide, devoured by his infected wife ("The Second Coming (That Which We Have Wrought)") | Family=''Annie'' (wife) Adam (son with wife Annie) Libby (lover) Adam (son with Libby) Father Joseph Warden (enemy) | Actor=Nikolaj Coster-Waldau}} John Smith was a recurring antagonist in Eden Rising, the mysterious founder of the religion only known as the Last Chance Society, who engaged in a power struggle with Father Joseph Warden, a priest who believed he was the modern-day reincarnation of Jesus Christ. History Pre-series= It is known that John Smith was married to a woman named Annie, with whom he had a child named Adam. Both were later killed, but their bodies stored in the bowels of the monastery he stumbled upon in order to keep them "alive" somehow. At the monastery and the suburban area surrounding it, he built up a community of survivors, using rewritten Christian beliefs as the foundation of the 'Last Chance Society'. He strictly forbids homosexuality, elderly (with few exceptions - as he accepts death bed patients to give them peace in their final days and those who are willing to earn their keep like Bray), and out-of-wedlock sex. Some time into developing the society, Smith stumbled upon the camp of the Il Alichino, stealing a bomb they recovered as part of his failsafe plan to release the infected he kept in the monastery's basement and then blow up the bomb in case anything bad happens. A few months before season 2 began, Smith impregnated his community's "poster girl", his lover Libby. John Smith and Libby developed a scheme where Libby's pregnancy was hidden in order to avoid controversy. |-|Season 2= After the child's birth, he was hidden in the forest where, on an impromptu hunt, John Smith "discovered" the child and took him in. It is shown that Adam is the eye of John Smith's eye, and he is deeply in love with the child. It is revealed that Smith intended to replace the family he lost shortly after the apocalypse, and named Adam after the child he had with his wife. The first Adam and his wife Annie are kept, reanimated, in the basement of the monastery where he feeds them human flesh to keep them around. He hopes having Adam and Libby around will help him finally let go of his former family, though he can't bring himself to do it. During a scandal where all of the community's children are murdered, John Smith is suspected by Ivy and Declan, and many of the people in the community begin to doubt Smith's leadership skills as he is unable to solve the murder. The true culprit of the murders, Father Warden, uses this situation in attempt at a coup d'état, gathering his own secret society of "disciples" who plan on overthrowing Smith and installing Warden as their leader under the false pretense that Warden is the next coming of Jesus Christ and he is choosing who to send to Heaven and who to keep on Earth, or what they believe is a manifestation of purgatory. When Smith decides to run off after hearing an explosion in the forest, one of Warden's spies, an elderly man named Bray is sent with him with the task of killing Smith on the mission. Smith has been onto Warden, but plays along as if he were clueless. He and Bray got into a car accident with Manila, Rory and Kitty -- survivors from the airport. They all learned the explosion that drove them all out there in the first place was a shipwrecked cruise and Smith agreed to let the airport survivors explore the wreck if they promise to stay off of his property. They agreed, and offered Smith a ride back to the Society, but Smith politely declined their offer much to Bray's confusion. On their walk back, Bray attempted to kill Smith but Smith revealed that he knew all about Warden's plot and he gains the upper hand. He knocked Bray out, took him to an abandoned shack, beat the old man senselessly, and then angrily shot him in the head. Smith reappeared at the Last Chance Society, where Father Warden has put himself in the shoes of leadership, bringing only Bray's decapitated head to use as propaganda against Warden, telling the people that Bray tried to kill him based on Warden's orders. He tried to convince them that Warden has caused more trouble than he's worth, and it began a riot where people begin to fight with each other over their allegiances. Smith supported the decision to hang Declan and Ash, in hopes that the murdering of two outsiders will calm the crowd into think they were the true enemy. Smith finally approached Father Warden, saying he surrenders his leadership to Warden. Warden saw this as Smith waving the white flag, and Smith said there's just something he needs to show Father Warden first. He takes him to the bowels of the monastery, telling Warden about his dead wife and son. Despite the Father believing he had the upper hand in this battle, John Smith pulled his ace in the hole and won the battle by finally ending it once and for all: opening up the large doors in the room, he revealed the army of infected he had locked up down here. He shoved Warden inside, where the priest is eaten alive. He took some of Warden's remains and fed them to his infected wife and daughter. Smith beat Tom and his daughter Darla after accusing the young girl of kidnapping his baby son Adam. He unleashed the infected he kept in the basement upon his town as a last resort, and planted the bomb he stole from the Il Alichino all those years ago as his "failsafe". Then, realizing things were done for, he dived at his infected wife and demanded a kiss. She responded by biting into his face. John Smith died being devoured by his own wife, a tragic but fitting end to a man haunted and driven by grief. Killed Victims *Himself (suicide) *Numerous counts of infected *Kenneth (before reanimation) *Bray *Father Warden *Kelvin Rivera (caused) Trivia *John Smith's real name is questioned by many, though he refuses to ever reveal it, believing that he has become a new person after the outbreak and is entitled to a new identity as well. *He and Tom Snyder share many qualities: they are leaders of their own communities, they let their emotions get to the best of them at times, and both have a deceased wife named Annie - a piece of both of their pasts that defines who they are in the present. **This connection, and the foreshadowing it held, was elaborated on in this blog post. Beware, however, it contains spoilers Appearances Category:Eden Rising Characters Category:Characters Category:Antagonists